Pulling Taffy (August 2010)

Pulling Taffy is very dear to my heart. I was so lucky to have Justin say to me, “Don’t worry, you are doing fine.” It gave me the confidence to keep working on it; it helped me relax and remember it’s okay, the perfection of imperfection, striving in a relaxed manner to improve. The ebb and flow of the four Pulling Taffy movements is a miraculous development as one movement segues into the next in a special way.

Beginning with Basic Pulling Taffy the tan t’ien leads. The upper body is followed by the arms and that wonderful feeling of the palms as they move over and under, the Chi resonating as the hands experience polarity, swathing gently through space. The addition of forward movement in Pulling Taffy, Variation #1, The Anchor swells the movement to a new forward and then centered dimension – before it rises vertically and centers in Pulling Taffy, Variation #2, Wrist Circles. Finally, Pulling Taffy, Variation #3, Perpetual Motion brings this movement to a continuous stream, like the infinity symbol.

Perhaps I should have written the flow and flow earlier. That is what the practice of T’ai Chi Chih feels like when I let TCC do TCC. It’s a continuous, universal oneness, and at the same time, it’s a centeredness without end. It’s a wonderful journey.